


daedelus

by qqtahng



Series: Princely Relations [4]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 15:57:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14719151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qqtahng/pseuds/qqtahng
Summary: "Everything in moderation" was Xander’s personal motto.





	daedelus

**Author's Note:**

> usual disclaimers apply

Nohr was always a dark place. Daytime was gloomy at best, and nights felt as dark as the customary armor their troops wore into battle; not that there was any reason to go into battle at the moment.

Xander had finished signing off on yet another document, this particular one granting a small portion of their royal funds to repair a very important bridge on a very important trade route. He literally just read the name of the route and already he had forgotten it. Xander sighed and looked at the candle flickering on his desk. It was significantly shorter than when he had first lit it. A testament to how long he had been working. Everyone else had long since gone off to bed at this hour. 

He supposed he should do the same. 

Getting up, and taking the candle with him, Xander gave a once-over at his office before deeming nothing out of place. He locked the doors, and made way to his bed chambers. He was anticipating an event-free trek on the way back, until a light from the library doors cracked open ever-so-slightly caught his attention. He sighed.

This could only mean one thing: Leo was up late reading. Again. And Xander would have to reprimand him. Again.

He slowly pushed open one of the doors and made his voice sound as stern as he could at this hour, “Leo, you know how I feel about you up this late a- Oh.”

To his surprise, he found one startled Prince Takumi occupying a seat in the library, curled up in plush armchair in such a position that would probably be uncomfortable to anyone else.

Xander bowed his head slightly by way of apology, “Pardon me, Prince Takumi. I had assumed my brother had fallen into that bad habit of his again.”

“It’s no problem. I was surprised I didn’t hear you walking this way,” Takumi put down the book he was reading and righted himself, “I was thoroughly entranced by this book, my apologies for that.”

“No need to apologize. However, I am curious as to how you manage to be awake. Most of the others have long since gone to bed. My night owl little brother included.”

Takumi blinked a few times, “But…? Isn’t it only...?” He looked over at the candelabra lighting his reading space. Most of the candles had nearly been reduced to nothing but a puddle of wax. “Oh.”

That amused Xander. “Yes, ‘oh’ indeed. Why don’t you head off to sleep now?”

“I would but,” Takumi bit his lip, “Sorry Princ- I mean King. King? Your highness, Xander. Sorry, this coronation thing is still new to me. I have a hard time believing Ryoma is a king now too.” He slid down his chair a little and rubbed his eyes, “Er, I know I should sleep, but I have a lot to do here before the real work starts. I have to learn about how your politics work, how your agricultural structures function, what your people hold as priority in rebuilding a country, read about the histories of this land… ugh I shouldn’t have started reading that play  — I’ve wasted hours!” He sounded distressed.

Xander looked worryingly at him, “Prince Takumi, I hope you are well aware that addressing me as Xander is more than sufficient. No need to be so formal around here.”

“Oh, in that case you can just call me Takumi, otherwise it’d be weird. That’s one less worry, I guess,” Takumi pinched the bridge of his nose, “Now for the rest of them…”

“Alright, I see where this is going so I’ll just cut to the chase. It is getting rather late, after all.” Xander pulled up the nearest stool and sat himself down, despite Takumi’s protests that he should just go to bed. “Takumi, listen to me.”

Xander waited for his attention as Takumi blinked a few times to clear his vision, the effects of fatigue probably setting in now that he realized how much time had passed. 

“Surely by now you have heard the infamous tale of a young man named Icarus?”

Takumi blinked, “Um, yeah? He’s the one who flew too close to the sun, got his entire body scorched, fell to the ocean in a fiery, inferno-y plume, and then drowned into the depths of the abyssal plains, right? Despite the fact that his dad told him  _ not  _ to do that?”

“Er, yes, although I wouldn’t have told it as gruesomely as that…”

Takumi shrugged, “You should know Leo likes dramatizing everything he does. It’s just his thing.”

Xander cleared his throat as a way of disguising his laugh, “Yes, I suppose you’re right. But my point is, usually that tale is told to keep people humble, and the moral of the story is that he was too arrogant and suffered consequences because of that, correct?” Takumi nodded and Xander continued, “But what fewer people know is that his father warned him that flying too low would result in death as well. The ocean spray would weigh down his wings and thus, he would be dragged beneath the waves by the weight.”

He could see Takumi contemplating his words. Xander pressed on, “What I am trying to say here is have more confidence in yourself, Takumi. I can see that you’re capable of much already. Practice and learn when you can, but trust that you have the skills to carry yourself now. Right now you’re flying very low, and so soon after you got here at that! I’m worried you might drown.”

Takumi sighed, “Ryoma has had the same conversation with me. It’s easy for you guys to say because you’re already like…” He gestured helplessly, “Like, the pinnacle of what everyone wants to be. You guys are the goal. I’m still at the halfway point at best!”

“But you have much time for improvement, we all do as a matter of fact.”

“That’s easy for you to say, but Ryoma is like, literally impossible to catch up to. You and him are par for par. He’s just a natural at everything and it’s…” Takumi threw up his arms, “I don’t mean to sound like I resent my brother, because I don’t! But sometimes I wish he wasn’t so innately good at everything.”

“Ah, here is where we find common ground.” Xander nodded sagely. Takumi stared at him, one brow arched in skeptical confusion. “I’m sure you know that my brother carries the title of genius in our family, and that title is deserved. He has excelled in much of what he has bothered to pick up. It’s truly alarming the rate at which he’s growing, it scares me at times.” Takumi was still staring at him.

“I’ll have you know, that I was once in your shoes. I had no natural talent to offer. So, I compensated with hard work. In fact, I worked too hard. So many times I found myself in the medical wing of the castle because I had torn a muscle due to overwork, or caught a fever due to too many sleepless nights spent swinging my sword.” Xander furrowed his brow in worry, “In retrospect, I’m not sure what made everyone believe I would be a good king after seeing all of that.” 

“I mean, they weren’t wrong in thinking you’d make a good king,” Takumi offered, “You’re easily one of the best political figures in Nohr’s history. I should know,” He held up a book titled  _ Nohr’s Political Compass, Volume 54,  _ “I’ve been reading this for the better part of a day, and honestly? Past you sounds nowhere near as bad as late Plithe. Or Xenanthos. Don’t even get me started on Benjamin the Fourth. And no way you could be as bad as your father.” He slapped his hand over his mouth as he realized what he said, “I-I apologize. That last part was out of line.”

Xander merely smiled, unbothered by the comment, “Thank you for your vote of confidence, Takumi. Now, why can’t you afford yourself some of that?”

Takumi’s hands went from his mouth to combing through his hair, a visible nervous tic, “I mean, it’s not like not I’m trying, but even when I hear stories like yours it just makes me think I should be working just as hard. After all, You turned out great going at it like that, didn’t you?” 

“Takumi,” Xander sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “The point is that it would have taken me a shorter amount of time to be where I am now had I just trusted that I was working at a good pace instead of pushing myself harder than I needed to.”

“But the evidence is all here!” Takumi gestured towards Xander, “You’re on your way to being one of the greatest kings Nohr has ever witnessed! You’re practically invincible.”

Xander sighed again, “I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this but. What if I told you there were things I couldn’t do that would make you think me pathetic?”

Takumi scoffed, “No offense Xander, but if there’s something you couldn’t do then no one could. And things like magic don’t count, you either have to be born with that or get really lucky in life. Neither do things like ‘my handwriting is awful’. That never actually matters to anyone.”

“I don’t know how to swim.” 

Silence.

“I… beg pardon?” Takumi looked confused, “You can’t swim?”

“I cannot swim.” Xander confirmed, “If you put me in a body of water I would sink like a stone. Correction: I would sink faster than a stone.” 

“Uh…”

“Surely you know how to swim, Takumi? Having grown up in a country bordering the ocean, I should think you and your siblings have at least and inkling of how to do so.”

“I- Yeah? We all know how to keep ourselves afloat at least. I’m sorry but, you don’t know how to  _ swim _ ?”

Xander nodded solemnly, “I am the only person in my family to hold that honor, as far as I know.”

“Huh,” Takumi leaned back in his chair, “Thanks for sharing that…?”

“My reasoning for sharing this was so you could realize that I nor your brother have reached the pinnacle of anything yet. There are still plenty of things that we have yet to master, even things that seem so basic you’d think everyone would know how to do it.”

“Well, you don’t have to go through life knowing how to swim, I guess. That’s a nice sentiment though. I’ll try to keep that in mind for real. But I can’t promise I won’t stop overworking entirely. Bad habit and all that.”

Xander smiled and patted Takumi’s shoulder, “That’s all I can ask. For you to try to have a bit more pride in your capabilities. After all, having too little pride is just as big of a sin as having too much.”

“I have to have a good balance, lest I drown.” Takumi repeated his words from earlier.

“Lest you drown.” Xander nodded in confirmation.

Takumi sighed, “I guess I should try to follow your advice, at least. I’ll go to bed now.” He pushed himself out of the plush armchair, “Good night, Xander. Thanks for the talk.” He bowed and made for the door.

Xander rose and followed suit, “It was no problem. Oh, and Takumi?”

Takumi turned and tilted his head.

“I’d prefer to keep that… swimming tidbit under wraps. If you could keep quiet about that I’d greatly appreciate it.” He tried to keep his face straight, but Xander could feel a faint blush of embarrassment rise.

Takumi did his best to contain his amusement, but a small and lopsided smile appeared anyway, “Your secret is safe with me, Xander. Maybe someday when things settle down, all of you can visit Hoshido and you can learn?”

“Ah, that’ll be a day I look forward to.”

Takumi smiled back at him before he left the library. Xander close his eyes and exhaled.

“Let’s just hope  _ I _ don’t drown then…”  
  


**Author's Note:**

> sorry if u like xander im actually not sure how to write him aaaaaaaaaa


End file.
